Though the overall appearance of America's first subway is not that great, they started to include works of art in stations in 1967 and continue to do so with new stations. Murals, sculptures and other types of artworks have been acquired through donations and art competitions [mbta.com].

Boston once had an elevated line above city streets - elevated in the suburbs, with two alternative routes (one elevated, one underground) across the central area. This has gradually evolved into the present Orange Line of the subway. The central elevated route closed in 1938 without replacement, while the northern section was replaced by the current section of Orange Line (alongside a main line railroad) in 1975. The southern section was "replaced" in 1987 by a section of Orange Line subway on a somewhat different alignment - so different, in fact, that more recently part of the Silver Line (a conventional bus route, but marketed as if it were a subway line) has been introduced on the streets that the Orange Line once ran above. So, the only original section of line left is the underground section (and even that isn't quite original - elevated trains had to run through streetcar tunnels initially, while this section was finished). The last short section of elevated alignment in the city - actually part of the light rail Green Line - went in 2004. Boston has recently also got rid of an elevated freeway through the city centre, replacing it with road tunnels ("The Big Dig"). A streetcar or tram tunnel has been partly or wholly abandoned.

Atlantic Ocean: Revere Beach and Wonderland stations on the Blue Line. Andrew station (underground) with a short walk to Carson Beach. Savin Hill station for Savin Hill and Malibu beaches. North Quincy station for Quincy's Tenean Beach and Wollaston station for Wollaston Beach. Orient Heights station.Atlantic Ocean: In Boston's MBTA commuter rail, the stations in Rockport, Manchester and Beverly Farms (all on the Rockport Line) are a short walk from beaches on the Atlantic Ocean.

On older trains, the doors make a "ding ding" or "ding dong" sound. There are new trains with automated announcements on the Red and Green Lines: As a train leaves a station, it says "Next stop, [name]". As the train enters a station, it says "Entering [name]". There is no announcement for closing doors, just "Beep beep". At major transfer points where rail lines cross, after the "Entering" announcement, the train says "Change here for the [name] Line" (such as the Green Line or Red Line, etc.)